When you are in the mood for some greens and flaky puff pastry, have no fear, Nava Atlas is here! Using her Kale and Carrot Strudel recipe from Vegan Holiday Kitchen, I replaced the kale with swiss chard. I also used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheets, which are accidentally vegan. I put Daiya cheddar shreds in my strudel and omitted them for the husband’s strudel. Both were delicious with a nice balance of flaky crust with a perfectly seasoned swiss chard vegetable blend inside. I have made this before during a holiday dinner and they went fast. It’s great as a main course for 2-4 people or as a side dish for more. This is a dish to make over and over again! Change up the ingredients to give it a new twist and delight your family and friends.

Around this time last year, I stumbled onto this amazingly creative and delicious recipe by Vegan Dad. It’s a perfect meal for Canadian or American Thanksgiving. The flavors were intricate and, while a little time-consuming to make, the final product was worth it. Here is my picture, but feel free to check out the link above for Vegan Dad’s much better one. His recipes are the bomb!

In keeping with the theme of local fall produce, I decided to make a hearty soup using the delicata squash in my CSA share for the week and veganic organic onions from Unexpected Farm. I love supporting this Watkins Glen farm when I find them at the Ithaca Farmers Market. Also, while I was at the farmers market over the weekend, I picked up a pint of fingerling potatoes and sweet corn.

We rated this soup a 3 1/2 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale!

Feeling inspired by a fingerling potato dish we used to get at the now defunct Horizons restaurant in Philadelphia (one of the best vegan upscale restaurants I’ve ever been to), I decided to try to my hand at making my own roasted fingerling potatoes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Scrub potatoes and rinse. Toss potatoes with truffle oil, crushed garlic cloves, and sea salt in a medium sized bowl. Place them on a cookie sheet and cook for 20 minutes. Using a fork or potato smasher, gently press down the potatoes until they split just a tad. (Not sure the benefit of this, but this is how I remember the Horizons fingerling potatoes being served). Ready to eat!

Truffled Fingerling Potatoes

*Please note, if I include an original recipe, I don’t rate it myself (seems a little biased). Feel free to make it though yourself and tell me how it turned out!

One of the greatest things about fall is the abundance of pumpkins and dishes created with pumpkins. One of the traditional desserts I make year after year is pumpkin pie. My all-time favorite recipe comes from Tofu Cookery by Louise Hagler. I’ve tried other vegan pumpkin pies and none come close to this recipe. The firm tofu in the recipe really gives the pie the texture it needs to have the delectable mouth feel that it does. The pie is spiced perfectly with just the right amount of sweetness. Top it off with your favorite vegan whipped cream, and this dessert is pure heaven.

Pumpkin PiePumpkin pie slice with soy whipped cream

This dessert gets a standing ovation and a solid 5 out of 5 carrots on my veganlicious scale!

Fall is the perfect time of year for all kinds of squash. We’ve particularly grown a fondness for acorn squash for its sweet taste after roasting it. You can roast squash in the oven, stuff it, saute it, etc. for endless meal possibilities.

To make this dish, preheat oven on 350 degrees. Cut the acorn squash in half, putting each half face down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, scoop out the seeds with a spoon, and fill with the stuffing of your choice. Put back in the oven on 350 degrees (stuffing side up) for 20 minutes.

I used Arrowhead Mills Organic Savory Herb Stuffing. I followed the directions on the back of the bag, adding celery, onions, and cashews to the mix. You can also use a wild rice stuffing if you want to make it gluten-free. This was a perfect fall dish and great for a Thanksgiving centerpiece or side dish as well.